State unveils new marijuana rules, Council gets counseled and more

Cannabiz

On Monday, the Colorado Department of Revenue responded to Amendment 64 by releasing 60-plus pages of "emergency rules for the regulation of the state's Retail Marijuana Industry by the Department's Marijuana Enforcement Division."

One thing the department leaves out is any attempt to regulate the placement of marijuana-themed publications, perhaps having been scared away by multiple lawsuits. The rules, however, do touch on things like: who can own a retail-marijuana business license; tracking requirements for when the plant leaves the cultivation facility to when it's sold; and mandated labeling and child-proofing for infused products. (See tinyurl.com/64rules for more.)

"I am so pleased with the amount of collaboration between the legislature, stakeholders, and constituents that has brought us to this point," says Barbara Brohl, the department's executive director, in the release. "This open exchange of information allowed DOR staff and legal counsel the tools necessary to formulate emergency rules of a much higher quality than is normally possible when state agencies begin the formal rulemaking process."

And though the new guidelines were issued sans public input, due to the need to make the mandated July 1 deadline, the DOR will accept comment during a formal rule-making hearing the week of Aug. 19. At that point, its representatives might hear things like this: "If it were real legalization, we'd be REMOVING pages of marijuana law, not adding dozens of new ones," as Coloradans 4 Cannabis Patient Rights president Audrey Hatfield writes on Facebook.

Still no response to Amendment 64 from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, either, which has prompted the New York Times to write in a supportive June 28 editorial, "Mr. Holder's dithering helps no one."

City counseled

Last Thursday brought Colorado Springs City Council's roughly five-hour town hall on recreational-marijuana stores. A slate of about 20 advocates for one side of the issue or the other were given seven minutes each to speak at the beginning of the meeting, before the general public was allowed to weigh in with three minutes each.

One man told the assembled, "I believe that, with all due respect, you have the mandate to follow what the will of the people is," echoing the sentiment of many Springs residents who voted for Amendment 64. See tinyurl.com/coscouncilmj for more.